Proximity as urban democratic legitimacy: Strategies of participation in Buenos Aires

Abstract

Since 2007, Buenos Aires has been governed by a centre-right coalition that has made participation an integral part of its approach to governance. Under mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (2015–2023), the idea and practice of proximity became central, notably through weekly meetings with neighbours across the city. This article demonstrates that proximity was a strategy for building urban democratic legitimacy. In so doing, it introduces the work of Pierre Rosanvallon to an urban studies readership. Contemporary literature on urban participation is at risk of establishing ontologically fixed positions, as seen in recent debates on the ‘post-political city’. Rosanvallon’s legitimacy of proximity is an analytical device that provides an open and non-essential reading of participation. Based on extensive qualitative research, the article examines how and why Larreta and his city government deployed the strategy of proximity, while also highlighting its limits.

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